


What Are Friends For?

by the_impardis



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, SO MUCH FLUFF, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-28
Updated: 2015-11-28
Packaged: 2018-05-03 18:18:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5301857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_impardis/pseuds/the_impardis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iris is a mess after Eddie dies. She wants nothing to do with anything that will remind her of her ex-fiancé and seeks solace in her work. Linda provides a friend in those trying times, and that develops into more</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Are Friends For?

It still felt like a dream. An awful dream that was impossible to wake up from. Barr was the Flash. Eddie was the distant relative of Dr Wells, who wasn’t even Dr Wells. She and Eddie were going to get married. Except they weren’t. Because Eddie was shot in the chest and then there was a wormhole and everything was insane.

Even after the wormhole ‘Singularity’ thing Cisco kept calling it closed, the world was still spinning. Ronnie wasn’t anywhere. Barry wasn’t talking to anyone. Caitlin, who Iris felt she was finally warming up to had moved to Mercury Labs and wasn’t talking to anyone from STAR Labs. Not that Iris could really blame her.

Central City Picture News was suddenly in flux. Iris was suddenly confirmed to be the main writer on meta-human and Flash-related events, and with Mason’s death confirmed after the Singularity, she was getting better stories, and more freedom to write about interesting issues that weren’t related to the Flash. Which was also good, because Iris’s connection to the Flash was a bit tenuous at the moment.

Every day was basically just research, write, research, write, eat, write. Iris was working at the newspaper, getting lunch there and only going home to sleep. The coffee in the Picture News had one purpose- and that was to caffeinate. It was strong and bitter, and had congealed coffee grains at the bottom. It was nothing like Jitters’ coffee. Iris missed Jitters. Jitters had good coffee and the servers liked her. She knew most of them by name, and was able to hold conversation. The cashier at Picture News Cafe looked dead behind the eyes, like the coffee they sold had sucked all the energy out of them. 

But Jitters was too close. She spent too much of her time there before. There were too many memories. Eddie had proposed there. Their first date was there. She couldn’t go back there. The entire place seeped with Eddie. Everything about that place was a reminder of him. The table they sat at. The time he nearly knocked over the tip jar, and ended up putting $30 in to apologise. Trying to pull him away from the tiny screen when Iris’s picture first gained popularity. He was always so invested in what she was interested in. He was too much to forget about. But that didn’t mean Iris couldn’t try.

Her desk was littered with scrap paper around a laptop with pens cluttered around, some blotting into pages. There was a six pack of beer in one corner, and crackers in front of them. The bin was overflowing with empty coffee cups. The drawers under the desk were haphazard and the files inside them were stacked carelessly. There was once a system, but it had long been forgotten. As the days of hard work turned into weeks, the desk cycled through papers and food and a neck cushion was added to the bottom drawer.

It was about two weeks later that Iris realised that her late hours weren’t being spent alone. The meeting room Iris had first met in had a light on late into the night, remaining on even after Iris had packed up and left. Sometimes the door opened and closed while Iris was facing away, and she could hear a keyboard clacking. Even when she had isolated herself, Iris wasn’t alone. And she wanted to be alone.

It was an accident that she found out who her mystery late-night friend was. Larkin was coming around to everyones’ desks and checking statuses of ongoing stories. It was after Iris had relayed her story of growing psychiatric worries in Central City and the vilification of of mental health (especially after the Gotham fiasco) to a tight-smiled Larkin that Linda met at her desk with a handful of papers.

“Mr Larkin, your article on the Diamonds.” Larkin looked at the heading before the passing it back to her.

“Linda, we talked about this. You can’t mention the fact that they refused Lucy Regent a position when you talk about how the Gotham Knights beat them.”

“Sir, last time we talked about this was three weeks ago, and I’m writing more variety now. You need to print some of this if it’s valid.”

“Linda, no-one wants to read about politics in the sport section. If you need to write four articles to get it to be only about the sports, then that’s what you do.”

Larkin stalked away from Iris’s desk after that, leaving Linda clutching her article to her chest with a determined expression on her face. Her posture was rigid and she hadn’t changed position since Larkin left. Iris decided to relieve the tension.

“Do you really write that many articles?”

Linda snapped her head towards Iris, and her expression softened slightly. “Yeah. People don’t want to hear about how unfair the picking for teams is, they just want the scores. Most nights I work on different ways to phrase my stuff to get it published.”

“That’s incredible Linda.” Iris was looking earnestly up at Linda now, and silently willing the woman to relax her grip on the papers.

“Thanks, Iris. But, you’re going pretty amazing now as well. You got a page 6 exposé with a picture last week. You’re rocketing up a lot faster than everyone else here.” Iris’s psychic powers were clearly at work, with Linda relaxing as she said this.

“Well, you know, hard work and all that.”

Linda finally sat down at the chair next to Iris’s desk. “Yeah I know. I see you at your desk most nights when I’m working as well.”

That pulled Iris’s attention up abruptly. “You’re the person in the meeting room?” Linda grinned a little at the outburst and a couple of heads turned at the volume.

“Yeah. You should hang out in there with me next time you stay late.”

Iris smiled back at Linda. “Sounds great.”

The opportunity arose the next night, with Joe having Barry over for dinner and a ‘STAR Labs talk’, and Iris deciding that those two needed to be alone for it. Luckily, there were a string of suspicious fires that needed investigating, so Iris texted in that she would have to stay back at work, but instead of setting up at her desk, she moved to the conference room. Linda was already there, and sent up a vague wave, while still absorbed by her computer screen. Iris took a seat across the table and opened her laptop and started working.

About a half hour after she had gotten into a rhythm and was absentmindedly drinking her coffee-sludge while typing, she heard an aborted giggle from Linda. When she looked up it was trained on her.

“What?”

“You actually drink the company coffee? It’s shit.”

Iris gave a small smile back to Linda. “I know. But my usual place doesn’t have a lot of good memories.”

“Bad breakup?”

“The worst.”

Silence relapsed over the two women until Iris finally stretched, saved her document and left to head home in the early morning. Linda was still trained on her screen, writing notes on a pad next to her computer.

The next day at work passed without interaction between Iris and Linda, but they noiselessly made their way to the conference room in tandem and sat where they were before.

It continued that way for a little over a week.

“What are you writing today?”

“Men’s hockey finals. You?”

“Crazy fires with no noticeable motive behind them.”

“Cool.”

The conversations were brisk and work-oriented, but occasionally Iris would look over to see Linda smiling softly at her screen. It made her want to smile as well.

Exactly a month after the first time Iris and Linda spent their night together in the meeting room, Iris walked in to find Linda not staring at her computer, but standing at the door staring at Iris and her work haul.

“Is this an intervention?” Iris joked. Linda had never looked this confrontational before.

“Yes. You are drinking my coffee because I swear to God if I have to smell the crap you bring in again I will lose it.” Linda’s cheeks were taut from not smiling by the end of the sentence and the apprehension Iris was feeling evaporated. She burst into a wide grin.

“I can live with that.”

They both returned to their seats and Iris could have sworn she heard Linda mutter something like “damn right you can” under her breath, but she couldn’t prove it.

The next night Linda wordlessly slid a coffee cup over to Iris, eyes still focussed on the laptop in front of her, but perhaps a slight dusting of pink on her cheeks. Iris tried not to notice that Linda somehow knew her coffee order. She ignored the fact in lieu of the fact that this was some of the best coffee she’d had in months, telling Linda just that. There was a definite blush at that comment, but soon after both women returned to work, commenting occasionally on events of their articles and, in Iris’s case, suggesting ways to subtly include politics in sports reports.

Iris literally ran into Cisco the next day on the way to visit her dad. He was carrying some mask that looked a bit like a SWAT mask, but with more tubes on it, and those tubes connected right with Iris’s stomach. Hard. Iris doubled over, gasping breaths out as Cisco dropped the helmet (hopefully it wasn’t important) and grabbed her side, pulling her to a seat under the staircase.

“Man, I am so sorry about that, I was just in a meeting with the Singh and he was super strict and stuff and I was thinking about that not looking where I was going and you came out of like nowhere, sorry Iris.”

Iris heaved a laugh out at Cisco’s babbled apology and waved it off. “It’s okay, Cisco, I’m fine. What was that?”

Cisco’s eyes lit up at the question and he started detailing the way it separated gasses because of some meta who was involved in gang wars turning into a noxious gas. When she asked about the guy’s name Cisco’s mouth snapped shut.

“I dunno. We never came up with one. Maybe like, Tornado? But nah that might confuse him with Weather Wizard and it’s also his weakness, so probably a no-go. Maybe like, Chokehold or something. I will definitely have to get back to you on that. And yeah, sorry Iris I gotta go and fix this now or Beardman will totally get me, but you should come to Jitters again sometime and hang with me and Barr- it just got rebuilt and he says you’re like, never home.”

When Iris didn’t respond he just waved then ran off up to wherever it was he worked spinning the helmet around in his hands, leaving Iris alone with her memories. She hadn’t thought about Eddie much in the last few days trying to meet her deadline, but everything rushed in at once at Cisco’s mention of Jitters.

Maybe it was worth doing an extra couple of hours of work over lunch to keep from breaking down at a police station.

Iris had nearly completed her article by five that evening. It would have been easy to finish at home, and she would get to have a proper dinner instead of calling a vending machine a fine-dining establishment. But then she wouldn’t get to talk to Linda. And after being hit in the stomach with some crazy gas helmet and reminded of Eddie, she really wanted to talk to Linda.

So as people shuffled off the floor, Iris picked up her laptop and headed into the conference room, grabbing the coffee Linda bought for her off the table. Linda was already intently staring at her screen, when Iris entered, but pulled her hand around to grab Iris’s briefly in a semblance of greeting. Iris moved around to her side of the table and opened her laptop.

It took about an hour before Iris had exhausted her options of writing, finished her article and started another, and texted Cisco with suggestions of “cloud-oriented words?” and was ready to finish. There were still a ton of other people milling about Picture News by the time she was ready to finish work, which was unheard of. Linda was still trained on her screen and scribbling notes next to her computer while Iris stared around the room, trying not to make eye contact for long periods of time. It took another half hour of swiping her mouse around the screen, and about 40 text messages from Cisco calling Iris a genius and saying “the answer was right in front of me all along” before Iris was bored enough to galvanise herself into action. She packed her laptop up and set to leave, casting a glance back at Linda.

She looked tired. Every action she made seemed aborted and exhaustive, and there was no enjoyment at all in her face as she watched her computer screen. It was like looking into a mirror leading into a different version of herself. Iris recognised the fatigue in Linda’s eyes from herself a few months ago, and made a decision to try and remove it. Linda had bought her coffee for weeks after all, this was the least she could do.

“Hey, get up for a bit”

“You pretending you’re my doctor now? I’m fine,” Linda paused briefly. “I need to get this done.”

“Not as much as you need a break. Come on. Let’s get dinner. My treat, to make up for all that coffee.”

Iris pulled Linda out of the chair and steered her around the table to the door, dropping her laptop at her desk as she walked past it.

Almost on autopilot, she walked out the door, trailing Linda behind her. It was only getting to her car she realised her grip had adjusted from Linda’s coat sleeve to her hand. She let go hurriedly as she got into her car.

They ended up eating at a little Indian place across the road from an old cinema. While the food had Iris gasping for air and water, Linda just laughed and kept eating, still keeping an amused smile on her face.

“You’re almost as bad as your brother with anything with kick, Iris”

“He’s not my brother. That would make everything way too weird.”

“Right. Got it. Won’t mention it again. How is your boyfriend? The other one we went bowling with.”

The Rogan Josh in Iris’s throated suddenly clumped. She was blinking back tears that had nothing to do with the chilli she was ingesting.

“Eddie, umm, he died. He was killed in the Singularity saving a lot of lives.”

Linda’s smile dropped from her face and she reached a hand across the table to clasp Iris’s.

“I’m so sorry,” she said earnestly. “I won’t mention it again.”

Iris squeezed her hand against Linda’s. “It’s alright. It’s getting better. I’m getting better.”

The conversation after that skirted around anything important, talking about the latest work gossip, until Linda looked over Iris’s shoulder to the cinema.

“Oh my god, Iris! The Labyrinth in on tonight. We should totally go. You need a distraction, and what’s more distracting than a glittery David Bowie?”

Iris couldn’t argue with that logic, and after paying for the meal they crossed the street into the cinema, hands still entwined. They stayed that way until about halfway through the film when David Bowie began serenading a band of puppets. The tinny theatre speakers resounded out the lyrics to the Magic Dance and Linda dropped Iris’s hand to turn directly to her and echoed the Goblin King.

“You remind me of the babe.”

Iris turned back immediately, “What babe?”

“The babe with the power-”

“-What power?”

“The power of voodoo-”

“Who do?”

“You do-”

“Do what?”

“Remind me of the babe.”

Both women dissolved into giggles after that and watched the rest of the movie quoting bits and pieces back to each other. As the credits rolled, Iris turned to Linda while the lights slowly increased intensity.

“How did I not know you like Labyrinth?”

“Everyone loves Labyrinth, Iris, come on. But I’m impressed that you quoted right back at me. Most people just sort of stare and wonder why they brought me along to a movie theatre.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind next time I see a movie with you.”

Linda stopped abruptly on the pavement. “Next time?”

Shit. “I mean, like, if you’d be cool with that I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on David Bowie’s glittery-ness?” Iris floundered out.

Linda stared back at her for a moment, before smiling and linking arms with Iris again, continuing to her car. “I guess I could live with that. Maybe next Wednesday come to my place and watch Pacific Rim with me? My nephew says it’s pretty fun.”

“Sounds like a date then.”

Wednesday movie nights at Linda’s house became a regular activity for Linda and Iris. In unspoken agreement they would finish up early on Wednesday night and drive back to Linda’s to watch movies. From Pacific Rim arose discussions of Newt and Hermann being the two side characters with the best lines, so next week was the Road to El Dorado. After that Linda suggested Repo! the Genetic Opera, which both women found surprisingly catchy, and yet traumatising. Maleficent came after that, and if during the true love’s kiss climax Iris had wriggled to be pressed slightly more against Linda’s side, neither commented on it.

For the first time since Eddie’s death, Iris was starting to feel like herself again. She laughed more and was spending more time with her dad, and even Barry was starting to talk to her more without looking like he was thinking about the Singularity. Having Linda there to talk to and just hang out with seemed to make everything Iris was dealing with a little easier to accomplish, in work and outside it. The dark circles from under her eyes had abated and Joe seemed to realise that Iris was smiling more often at dinners. Finally, after the world had collapsed in on itself, Iris was beginning to feel like she was putting a little life for herself back together again.

A couple of days after marathoning the new Hannibal at Linda’s, Iris found herself being confronted by her dad to talk to Barry about his self-mandated isolation at STAR Labs, and in typical Barry fashion, he only ended up taking her advice after he was nearly pummelled to death. Caitlin came back to STAR Labs which was nice, but Iris still felt like she was the odd one out there. Her dad was a police officer, Caitlin and Cisco were geniuses and Barr was, well, Barr. It was a sudden and unexpected pang to realise that Iris wanted Linda more than ever to know about Barry, even though it wasn’t her secret to tell. She wanted Linda to be with her going through all the superhero stuff.

A couple of days later, Joe came into Central City Picture News halfway through Iris’s shift to talk. The first thought that went through Iris’s head was something to do with the Flash, but he was assured otherwise. With that pressure gone, Iris turned back to her work. The aim was to finish as much as possible and just hang out with Linda that night, maybe bake or something. Linda liked baking. However, Joe stayed and he kept his tense-quiet-dad-tone going and Iris felt herself turn away from the computer to try and focus on what he was saying. Then Linda came around with a massive smile and mentioned an exposé being on the front page and Iris was struck dumb. Every thought of her father evaporated under the radiance of Linda beaming right at her. She hugged Linda tightly, tilting her head into the crook of the other woman’s neck. It was a really nice feeling, and she could have stayed there forever, except that her dad was standing two feet away. Iris pulled away as Linda moved towards Larkin, leaving Iris focussed on her dad again. Taking in a deep breath, she composed herself.

“So, what was it you wanted to talk with me about?”

Joe shook a hand away towards Linda. “It’s not that important. Go, be fabulous.”

Enveloping her dad in a tight hug, Iris smiled before turning back towards Linda. Her heart stuttered slightly, but it felt nice, like it was slightly too big for her chest. Iris hadn’t felt that way since Eobard took it from her. It was a good feeling. Terrifying, but good.

The rest of the day passed in a blur, and Iris spent more time staring at Linda than her computer screen. This was a terrifying new territory. Eddie had only been gone a few months and already Iris was starting to consider that maybe she was feeling something romantically for someone else? If she could have pounded her head against her desk she would have. And she already made plans to hang out with Linda that evening. They were plans she really didn’t want to cancel, even if they were plans she was maybe regretting making through no fault of Linda. Four hours later, Iris arrived at the decision of still meeting with Linda, but confronting her emotions first.

The walk outside was bracing, and Iris’s feet moved on autopilot to the destination. It was easy, but left her mind open to imagine scenarios that were probably counter-productive. She stepped through the door, heard the bell dimly ring and was transported to the past. The air in Jitters was fresh and had the faint aroma of coffee beans, and light chatter filled up the silent void faced at the Central Picture News café. It felt like home, and Iris’s arm felt empty without someone holding her hand. Walking towards the counter, she almost looked around for Eddie, but her mind held her back. She ordered herself two coffees, and was only barely surprised to realise she knew Linda’s order by heart.

The thought of Linda dispelled some of the mist in the air. Eddie was gone, but Iris wasn’t going to fall into the same mistake Orpheus did. She collected the two coffees and tipped $10 in the jar, walking out without a backwards glance. Somehow, she got through the endeavour without breaking down or having a panic attack. That made her heart ache dully at thoughts of her fiancé, but that was overshadowed by the fact that Iris was able to order a coffee for herself and Linda. She had conquered the biggest monster of her mind and that was worth celebrating. She couldn’t wait to tell Linda.

That evening, Iris made sure that Linda was converted to Jitters, even though her other coffee stop was alright, and Linda made Iris a batch of muffins. All in all, it was a good night for her. Almost good enough to forget that her father stopped by with cryptic news. But he didn’t forget.

Her mother was an ex-drug addict. And alive. And in Central City. And her father and potentially Barr had been lying to her for 20 years. Her mother was alive. And wanted to see her. And alive. And maybe it wasn’t the wisest decision to go immediately away from her family to sort her brain out, but before she knew it, Linda’s apartment complex was there and Iris only had the sense to text her dad she was staying the night with a friend when she got to Linda’s door.

Linda opened the door in sweatpants and a messy bun, holding a box of Chinese in one hand and chopsticks in the other. Somehow, she still looked beautiful without putting effort into her appearance like at work. With only a single look at Iris, Linda extended the entrance and walked back inside.

“There’s extra pad thai in the fridge if you want it.”

Iris reached for the box gratefully, and grabbed a fork before sitting next to Linda on the couch. She sat in silence with her for a few minutes watching Real Housewives of Metropolis before she couldn’t take it any longer.

“My mum’s alive and in Central City.”

Linda didn’t say anything but her eyes widened. She stared intently at Iris for a minute, before pulling the pad thai out of her hands. She grabbed her box as well and put them on the bench, before returning to the couch with a tub of ice-cream and two large spoons.

“You said you like mint chocolate, right? Let’s go. We don’t need to talk about anything if you don’t want to.”

1.5L of ice-cream and four episodes of Real Housewives of Metropolis later, Iris was feeling a lot more centered. Linda’s invitation to stay the night was accepted easily and Iris was nestled in a cocoon of blankets on the couch when Linda finally turned the tv off.

“I’m going to head to bed now. You know where the toilet is and if you want more covers or something the linen cupboard’s just opposite the study.”

Iris nodded back from her burrow. “Sounds great. Goodnight, Linda. And, thanks. For everything”

Linda smiled back towards Iris. “Hey, what are friends for, right?”

“…Right.”

Iris settled into her makeshift bed as Linda left the living area, turning the light off as she moved towards her bedroom. With the lights off Iris suddenly realised how massive her day was. She was exhausted. Yawning as she moved to a more horizontal position, the last thought that passed through Iris’s head was the implausibility of everything in her life. It felt like a bad soap opera and she was tired.

There was so much blood. It was covering her hands and it kept pulsing out like a flower blooming, but twisted and pained. Eddie was on the ground and nothing else mattered. He was leaving her just after she convinced him to stay and they were going to have a perfect life together, except they weren’t now because Eddie was dying in her arms and there was nothing she could do. The wound stopped pushing out blood and slowed to a dribble. Eddie’s eyes turned glassy. He was gone forever. 

As if in a daze, Iris stood up and walked away. Then she wasn’t at STAR Labs anymore. She was at her desk and Central City Picture News. Everything was normal again. Linda was walking towards her with two coffees and Iris’s stress bled out. But then Linda kept walking to the desk past Iris. Putting the coffees on the man’s desk, she smiled brightly and gave him a brief kiss. Linda was laughing at something her boyfriend had said and Iris’s stomach flipped. She wasn’t a part of Linda’s narrative anymore. She wasn’t really that important to Linda, it was just a hole to fill until someone better came along. She was completely alone again.

Iris jerked up from the couch in a cold sweat. It was just a nightmare. She was in Linda’s house. A quick look at the microwave told her it was a ridiculous time to be awake, but Iris didn’t want to risk going back to where she just came from. She pulled herself up from the couch and walked to the kitchen thoughtlessly, grabbing a glass and filling it at the sink, before leaning against the counter and sipping from it sporadically.

She had never had that dream before. Well, the first part had happened. It was a staple of her sleep experience for weeks after Eddie’s death but she hadn’t had it in months. The second part had never happened before though. Iris couldn’t explain the flare of jealousy she had felt when Linda kissed that man and didn’t want to think about it at that moment. But then, a niggling voice at the back of her mind supplied, what if that was what was going to happen? Eddie’s death was recreated perfectly in her dream, maybe Linda leaving was going to happen as well. Iris dropped the glass.

It shattered spectacularly against the tiles and Iris startled out of her thoughts. She would just clean this up and then she would have to go back to sleep at some point. About halfway through picking up the bigger shards of glass, a light in Linda’s bedroom flicked on, and Linda padded out sleepily. A flash of guilt overtook Iris for waking Linda up while she was a guest at her house and she hastened her movements. Linda flipped a light in the kitchen on and Iris saw how she looked. There was glass everywhere and Iris had dried tears all along her cheeks (when did she start crying?) and everything looked a disaster.

Linda grabbed a broom and started sweeping the rest of the glass into a dustpan while Iris just knelt on the ground trying to compose herself. When Linda had disposed of the glass she pulled Iris to her feet and led her back to the bedroom, turning off the kitchen light on her way past. Linda got into her bed and immediately shut her eyes. Iris stood there, not sure what to do. 

“Iris,” Linda’s voice was rough with sleep, “get into bed. We can talk about it in the morning.”

Iris carefully slid next to Linda, trying to not touch her. Linda turned the lamp off and sleep overtook Iris quickly.

The next morning, Iris woke up slowly, drifting in and out of consciousness to a warmth around her. When she finally opened her eyes, the she felt the warmth shift slightly, and realised she was pressed against Linda. Iris froze for a moment, but when Linda let out a little noise, she relaxed again. They were basically spooning, and this wasn’t a good idea, but Iris couldn’t really bring herself to care when Linda was nuzzling into her and the warmth was surrounding her and she was so comfortable and felt like she had slept so well despite the interruption last night, and she could probably drift right back to-

The moment ended abruptly as Iris’s phone blared out “gotta go fast!” from the living room. That was Barr’s ringtone, so Iris hauled herself out of bed and to the couch.

“Barr, hey. What’s up?”

“You’ll wanna come down to STAR Labs, Iris.”

Barry’s voice was terse through the phone speaker. “Barr, is something wrong? Are you in trouble?”

“It’s nothing like that. It’s just, we have a visitor from a different earth and you’re really gonna want to see him.”

Iris’s heart sank as she turned back to Linda’s bedroom. “I’ll be right there, Barr. Just, are you sure you’re okay? You sound really spooked.”

There was a pregnant pause. “The guy, from the different earth?” Iris heard Barry suck in a breath. “It’s Harrison Wells.”

Iris’s heart stopped for a moment. Thoughts of breakfast with Linda were dashed, and Iris’s stomach was churning in a way suggesting any food would be a bad idea. “I’m on my way, Barr.”

Iris grabbed her shoes and jacket, but paused on her way to the door. Would leaving a note for Linda be weird? Iris dropped her coat on the couch and quickly walked to Linda’s room.

“Hey Lin? You awake?”

Linda groaned in response.

“Lin, I need to go to STAR Labs now. It’s really important. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“M’kay.” Linda rolled over so her face was half obscured by the pillow. Iris had a sudden urge to kiss her forehead, but quelled it and left the apartment swiftly.

The drive to STAR Labs was nerve-wracking. Iris was only partly understanding the idea of parallel earths, and now the person to seek them out was the other earth’s version of the man who was responsible for her fiancé’s death? Typical.

The other-Wells was in the middle of a conversation with Team Flash when Iris came in and she froze. He was almost exactly the same. He talked the same and held himself the same way as when he could walk. Even his glasses were the same fucking design how was that possible. His very presence seemed to insult Eddie’s memory.

The room silenced as Iris entered and other-Wells stared at Iris intently. God, he even intently stared the same way.

“I presume I slighted this young woman in some way?”

Caitlin and Cisco shifted so their bodies were between Iris and other-Wells. Iris didn’t know who that was designed to protect.

“You killed her fiancé,” Cisco said coldly.

“Oh.” There was so much indifference in his voice that it ached. Iris did the only thing that she had the strength to. She left as quickly as she could.

Driving home was a strange experience as she calmed down. Of course seeing the other-Wells, or Harry as Cisco was calling him, was hard, but it wasn’t as awful as Iris had anticipated it to be. She had steeled herself on the ride through the city for tears and recriminations, especially since she had held in so many emotions when the life of Francine West was proven to still being played out. Instead of breaking down, she held herself up and was even able to think about Eddie without starting to panic or blame herself. Maybe she was finally getting better?

Halfway through the drive, Iris realised that she was heading away from her house, and towards Linda’s. she couldn’t bring herself to turn around, and decided she definitely deserved a lunch out after the morning she had had.

A couple of nights later, Joe had given Iris a gun to use against other-Wells in case, and Iris and Linda were back into their routine of working late together again. They were just packing up, slowly turning to their desks and talking about nothing when a super villain had come in and threatened Linda.

Iris hid behind her desk while Linda was frozen between the rows of tables and Larkin tried to intervene. Barry appeared out of nowhere and tried to talk down the ‘Dr Light’ but she just seemed to be getting madder, and Larkin was trying to dissuade her and then a beam of white light shot through him. Dr Light seemed horrified by the proceedings, but Iris focussed herself on Linda’s expression, which was terrified. Without a thought for herself, Iris stood up, positioned her feet automatically and let off a shot towards Dr Light’s face. The bullet ricocheted and knocked the mask of Dr Light’s face as she turned to Linda. And Linda was confronted by her own face trying to kill her.

The next few hours passed in a blur. First as the Flash, then as himself, Barry came by and checked up on Linda and Iris. Her dad mentioned that her keeping a police weapon shouldn’t end up in the reports, but otherwise seemed happy with Iris. The entire time Linda seemed to be in shock, repeated that the woman had her face and it was awful. About two hours before they even left Iris had decided that she was spending the night with Linda to keep her safe, from super villains and anything she might do to herself.

They drove home together in silence, and Linda’s hand did not leave Iris’s the entire trip. When they finally got up to the door, linda was fumbling so much that Iris grabbed the keys from her and opened the door herself. As soon as they went inside, Iris grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen and a pack of peanut butter cups. They were Linda’s favourites.

Linda was waiting on the couch, staring at the television as Iris brought the food up to her. She took the chocolates from her and started chewing on them wearily. A few bites in the taste seemed to hit and Linda sent up a small smile to Iris, who then passed the water to her. They didn’t leave the couch until Linda had drunk the entire glass and seemed slightly more alert to her surroundings. After that Iris instructed Linda get to bed, and followed her to the bedroom to grab one of her pyjama sets. Linda was still getting ready for bed when Iris was dressed, so she moved to grab some blankets, but Linda made a mournful sound as Iris passed towards the linen cupboard.

“Stay with me?” she said in such a vulnerable voice that Iris’s heart broke a little bit.

“Always, Lin.”

In tandem, the two women moved towards the bed and hopped in. Linda huddled into a ball on her side of the bed and seemed to shake slightly. Iris wrapped her arms around Linda until some of the tension bled from her shoulders. After a few minutes Linda had relaxed into a loose fetal position and her breathing evened out. Iris tightened her embrace slightly, and turned off her lamp. It was a long time before she went to sleep that night.

Linda woke up the next morning in a start. Smoke was in the air and the previous night crashed back in her mind. Someone who looked exactly like her had tried to kill her. Larkin had died. There was smoke in her house, she was going to die too. She leapt out of bed and grabbed a baseball bat from her cupboard before edging out her room.

She could hear footsteps approaching her room. Pulling the bat behind her head, Linda steadied herself and prepared to swing at-

Iris. Who was holding a tray with the ashes of some bacon and blackened toast with orange juice. Linda dropped the bat hurriedly at Iris’s shocked expression. Suddenly she felt like bursting into tears.

“Iris. I, I’m so sorry, I just. I don’t know I was scared and there was smoke I’m sorry.”

Iris put the tray down and pulled Linda into a tight hug. Linda nuzzled into Iris’s neck and tried to breathe slowly. The stayed in that position for a few minutes. Linda didn’t focus on how safe she felt with Iris enveloping her. Her hair smelled fruity and clean, even though she clearly hadn’t showered for at least 24 hours. It felt nice.

Finally they separated and stared at the dejected pile of breakfast food.

“Sorry Lin, I wanted to make you breakfast, but I kinda forgot about the bacon making the toast and the toaster was set too high and, yeah. Sorry about that.”

Linda giggled a bit. “It’s alright. Thanks anyway. I’ll make smoothies for us.”

Linda moved around her kitchen slowly. Iris silently passed the blender and ingredients along the bench to her. Out of nowhere Linda noticed how comfortable Iris was in her kitchen and how she knew where everything was. It was nice.

After making breakfast, Linda and Iris moved back to the bedroom and sipped their smoothies quietly. Linda’s hand stayed on Iris’s but neither woman commented on it. When they finished the cups were set aside and Linda started fiddling with Iris’s hair. It was smooth and strong and comforting for linda to have something to do with her hands.

Halfway through a French braid, Iris’s phone went off with the Sonic theme song and Iris picked it up without having Linda let go of her hair.

“Barr, what’s up?”

There was a muffled reply on the other side as Linda tried carefully not to listen in on the conversation.

“Okay, well that sounds great, but I… No Barr I can’t come in today. I know. I know. But you know that after last night…No we’re fine, I just think that I should stay a bit longer. Yeah, I know. Love you too. Bye”

Iris dropped the phone back on the bed and fell into Linda’s side. She had stopped braiding.

“You know, if you have to go, don’t let me keep you.” Linda tried to keep the hurt out of her voice.

“No way, I want to be here. Barry can cope without me for a day.”

“Can he though? Is he still…?” Linda tapered off.

“No I think that ship has sailed. Is it weird for you that I’m so close to him after he broke up with you?”

“Not really?” Linda started braiding again. “I mean, he’s nice and stuff, but I just see him as your best friend now rather than my ex, you know?”

“Yeah.”

The silence stretched on for a while until Iris’s hair was braided then let out again, and Linda was fidgeting behind her.

“Lin, you alright?”

“Yeah I just, I should probably do some work now. I mean even though Larkin’s,” her throat caught, “that’s no excuse not to-”

“Can I kiss you?”

Iris turned around so she was facing Linda head on. There was a dusting of red across her cheeks. “I mean, it’s cool if you don’t, I just, like, I mean if that’s cool with you-”

“No, no. I’m actually really glad you asked that because I’ve been thinking about it for a while but I didn’t want to make things awkward and like, I really like having you as a friend so-”

“Yeah me too, totally.”

“But, like yeah that totally sounds awesome, let’s totally go.” Both women were blushing in earnest at that point of the conversation.

“I just, umm,” Iris paused and Linda leaned back a bit. “Like, just so you know, this is my first time doing this with a girl and I-”

“Yeah that’s cool. I, umm, same.”

“What, really? But you’re so pretty, like-”

“Yeah, no. It’s my first time.”

“Cool. Me too.”

Iris shuffled along the bed so she and Linda were kneeling towards each other. Slowly, she leaned in and captured Linda’s lips with her own. They stayed that way lazily for a moment, then Linda pressed back and opened her mouth to Iris and deepened the kiss. Iris moved against her, and their noses bumped together.

The kiss broke and they giggled at each other, leaning into each other. After a moment, Linda initiated another kiss and pulled Iris in by the small of her back. She slid that than up to Iris’s neck and played lightly with her hair. Iris flexed her fist around Linda’s shirt in response. Slowly, they parted again, placing light kisses over the others’ cheeks and jaw.

They stayed wrapped around each other for a moment, content to enjoy the moment for a moment longer, until Iris broke the silence.

“That was, nice. Like different-”

“Yeah. But like, a totally enjoyable experience-”

“Yeah, absolutely.”

A hush spread over the bed again. Linda interrupted it this time.

“So would you be interested in, doing that again?”

“Yes,” Iris responded immediately, before regaining her verbal filter. “I mean, like, if you liked it and were interested in-”

“Yes.”

The two looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“I’m going to be honest, that was probably the most awkward seduction I have ever been a part of, and I dated Barry.”

“Yeah. Sorry about that. It’s just-”

“Yeah I get it. So, are you going to stay the day?”

Iris smiled widely at Linda. “Totally. Want to watch something?”

“Sounds great! I just read about this new series on Netflix and it totally made me think of you!”

Iris couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “Sounds awesome, hit me with it!”

“Get back under the covers with me and I’ll load it up.”

“Great. This is just-“ Iris paused, unable to sum up what she was feeling. “Thanks Lin. For everything.”

“Hey, what are girlfriends for?”

**Author's Note:**

> firstly, this would have given me diabetes had i not already had it when i began writing.
> 
> secondly, the movie choices are a bit weird, but that is based off real-life experience, as is the backbone of the conversation preceding the kiss. i live an exciting life


End file.
